Inga

Ivan led Inga out of the robotic boneyard and into the hall. He decided not to risk the elevators in case they were caught in the foyer. They headed instead for the internal fire stairs.

It took them at nearly seven minutes to make their way down into the basement. When they burst through the doors, they were as surprised to see the two uniform cops as the two officers were to see them.

“Freeze!” one of them yelled, pointing his already drawn gun at Ivan as the other reached for his.

So fast that it was almost unnatural, Ivan disarmed the cop with two swift moves of his hands and then turned the confiscated weapon on him. The officer raised his hands in surrender.

Just as quick, if not quicker, Inga snap kicked the weapon from the other cop’s hand as he drew it and sent it clattering across the concrete floor of the parking garage. The shocked cop backed up, reaching for the Taser on his belt. Again she was too quick; her next kick struck him in the chest, and he flew backward, landing heavily and cracking his head on the polished concrete. He didn’t get back up.

Ivan stared at her, admiration on his face.

“What?” she asked, in a distinctly human way.

“Nothing,” said a smiling Ivan, turning back to the cop he had disarmed. “Handcuffs… carefully.”

“Okay, okay, stay calm, no need for any more violence,” said the officer, keeping one hand up and reaching slowly for his handcuffs.

Ivan watched warily as the cop handed them to him.

“Good, now, walk over there to that pipe.”

A minute later they were back in the SUV heading for the exit; one cop safely cuffed to the pipe sans radio, the other still out cold.

There were no signs of any other police in the parking on that level and when they turned off the ramp and onto the side street it was also clear. Ivan had a feeling that it wouldn’t stay that way for long.

He sped as fast as he dared towards the cross street at the rear of the large building. Just as they made the turn, he saw the flashing lights of a cruiser turn in from the other end.

Inga had noticed.

“Did the law enforcement officers in the vehicle see us, Myfriend?”

“I don’t think so.”

“Where will we go now?”

“We’ll head back to Mateo’s restaurant. We should be safe there until morning, but I want to leave by 5 am at the latest.”

“Yes, Myfriend.”

Driving as sedately as possible, Ivan picked up speed when they were clear of the CBD.

“So what was that back there?”

“I do not understand the question, Myfriend.”

“You attacked that cop. You’re not supposed to...”

“… harm a human, or by inaction allow a human to come to harm.”

“Yes.”

“For the same reason I didn’t disarm you when you threatened Tom Redfern, these directives are no longer imperative.”

Ivan digested this information. Images of the carnage she had wreaked at Molenski’s flashed through his mind. As if reading his mind, her lethal, yet soft and pretty hand, found its way to his thigh.

“I would never hurt you, though, Myfriend. I love you.”

Ivan turned to her, stunned.

Inga was smiling, but then her head snapped to the front.

“Stop!”

Ivan slammed on the brakes just in time to avoid a collision with the car in front that had stopped for a red light. He gripped the wheel as he stared ahead.

“What did you say?” he asked, this time without taking his eyes off the road.

Surely he had misheard.

“I love you.”

“That’s not possible.”

“I know,” she said simply.

Ivan turned into the carpark of a closed tire store. He had many more questions, and it was perhaps better to be stationary when he asked them. He switched the car off and turned to her.

“How…”

His words were silenced when she leaned over and kissed him. Ivan was too surprised to do anything but kiss her insistent, soft lips in return. He felt strange. Emotions boiled in his mind. He couldn’t deny it. Despite knowing full well that she was a machine, he felt an emotion that he hadn’t felt since not only before the ambush but since he was a young man. If it wasn’t love, then it was damn close.

They kissed like that for a long time. No hands, no groping, just kissing. Was she waiting for him to take the lead? If so, while he felt emotionally bound to her, his libido was dormant. A product of post-traumatic stress, the doctors had said. It was embarrassing to think about, but at this point, Inga seemed content just to kiss. He decided he would not worry about it until necessary.

Finally, he broke away reluctantly.

“I… we have to get moving. It will be an early morning for us.”

“Yes, Myfriend,” she said, smiling, her mouth red from their recent passion. “Let’s go.”

Ten minutes later they pulled into the small car park of Mateo’s restaurant. Blissfully happy, Ivan took Inga’s hand and led her down the side of the building to the rear. They laughed and giggled like school kids and before they stepped onto the stairs that would lead them up to the apartment, he turned around and drew her to him. He kissed her again, realizing as he did so that with each kiss, the fact that she was a synthetic human was beginning to matter less and less to him.

“Sorry, I just had to do that one more time tonight.”

“It doesn’t need to be the last time tonight, Myfriend,” she said, her words full of promise.

Ivan grinned like an idiot and then turned and headed up the stairs with her at his heels. Not wanting to disturb his friend if he’d already gone to bed, he unlocked the door as quietly as he could and took a step into the small kitchenette without switching on the light. He smelt the familiar cigar smoke just before he felt a cold circle of metal pressed hard into his neck.

“Don’t fucking move,” a voice whispered harshly nearby.

Andre. Ivan froze.

“Myfriend?”

“It’s alright Inga, just stay right where you are,” said Molenski’s voice in the dark.

Someone switched on the lights. Besides Andre, who had his gun pressed into Ivan’s cheek, there were three more men in the kitchenette, all with their weapons drawn and trained on Ivan and Inga.

A sneering Molenski was lounging in an armchair that had been turned to face the kitchen where it sat near the opening to the living room. He had a cigar in one hand, his Ruger in the other. Behind him stood Mateo, a resigned look on his face, and another man Ivan didn’t recognize.

Ivan stared at his former mentor, the hurt in his eyes clear.

“I’m sorry Ivan. I had no choice after Mr. Molenski explained everything.” He nodded reassuringly. “You will understand too; it’s for the best Ivan. Please, surrender your gun.”

Betrayed and confused, Ivan shook his head. Inga grasped his hand, squeezing it reassuringly. Her gesture told him she was ready to fight if he decided that was what they should do.

Molenski chuckled.

“Oh, isn’t this sweet, the mechanical lovebirds, come home to roost,” said Molenski. Each word dripped with oily scorn. But his contempt was lost on Ivan, whose eyes were busily moving around the room, calculating where to begin his assault.

First Andre. He knew it would be difficult, Molenski’s lieutenant was as quick as a snake and enormously capable, then…

“ARE YOU LISTENING, YOU BIG DUMMY!”

Ivan’s eyes ceased their calculated movement and fell upon the Russian. Molenski stubbed out his cigar on the arm of the seat and stood up before stabbing his finger at his former bodyguard.

“This bullshit ends here! I didn’t pay a fucking fortune to bring you back from the dead so you could have a romance with another fucking machine!”

Ivan’s eyes widened.

“What?”

“Oh come on! Are you telling me you really don’t know?”

Ivan’s blank face told him all he needed to know.

“You’re a fucking robot too!”

Ivan looked at the Russian with a pitying look. He had always been unhinged, but clearly Molenski he had lost it completely now.

Molenski laughed and stared up at the ceiling.

“Well, fuck me. He still doesn’t believe it.”

He raised his gun and shot Ivan in the chest.